I am actually surprised that there is a recall on the issue at all. How is Honda responsible for the effects of road salt?
What's next?.....A recall for brakes wearing out in hilly areas?
It all adds up to higher prices on the cars we buy.

 

Free rental now.

Back during the airbag recall they offered free car rental from Enterprise while the parts were on backorder. We ended up having a free rental, Wrangler, for about 2-3 months.

 

I got a free rental then too.

 

Yeah, no responsibility for manufacturers on safety issues. All the burden on the consumer!

 

Mine snapped in April I had my local shop fix it , since I had to get it towed . It was like $500 . I proactively replaced the driver side myself. I’ll give Honda a call and see how much of that I can get back. I remember we had a Volkswagen that had a recall on the window regulator after we had it fixed twice , I think it was a pain, but we did get the money back.

 

A catastrophic failure of a driveline component that has no maintenance interval, and cannot be visually inspected at the failure point, and has zero symptoms prior to failure, that results in immediate cessation of vehicle movement, is 100% what safety recalls are designed for. Accelerated corrosion from common and expected environmental elements should not be beyond the scope of reasonable liability. Honda did the right thing regarding this recall. In all of my many years in the automotive repair business, I have NEVER seen this type of failure to a drive axle, regardless of manufacturer or design. Thankfully, somebody in the "know" either mechanically or financially made the call.

 

Wife went to dealer today. They need to inspect to see if needing replacing. She didn't have time to wait today.

Odd how this is though since are we supposed to just go yearly for an inspection otherwise it seems still prone to failure.

if they do need to replace they did say there would be a free rental

 

As far as I can tell (researching Honda's recall info site, and AllData etc) the repair procedure for this recall, and all the perimeters regarding questions like "What if the axle is ok now, and fails later?" issue etc have not been released. The only document I have seen is a "Stop Sale" order which only applies to Honda dealerships, which is designed to stop an inventory (used) vehicle that has this defect from being sold. Unless someone else has found something, there does not seem to be any final information beyond the fact that there is an axle issue, and that Honda will be covering repairs of vehicles that fall within VIN range/state of registered. I see no information on updated parts, or what is to happen if a dealership currently has a customer owned vehicle that is in need of axles.

 

Anyone had theirs looked at and/or replaced?

I bought my Fit used. What is process for taking it in? Any Honda dealer will do?

 

yes any Honda dealer . I would call your nearest / favorite dealer. They won’t have parts until February I hear .

I have my repair receipts into Honda right now . They told me I still have to take my car in to have it inspected before I can get reimbursed.

 

Well I got the notice but they still don't have the parts. They say once I bring it in they can't allow me to drive it so they'll give me loaner as soon as they have one.

 

Honda is giving a loaner because they are a good company. Just an FYI, a repair facility absolutely cannot "not let you drive" away in the car. That is a falsehood circulated throughout the car repair world. A business could be charged with theft among other things.

 

wife took hers in and they said they would need to inspect first to see if needing replaced. Did they mention that to you or just "we can't let you drive it period"?

 

If your axles do not pass the visual inspection and you need a loaner vehicle, ask for one. Honda knows that it is not financially feasible to refuse a loaner to a vehicle owner. One lawsuit cost them enormous sums of money.

But again, a repair facility cannot "not let an owner drive" their vehicle away. They have zero power to prevent an owner from taking their vehicle. I have been in the automotive service business for almost 30 years. Regardless of the legal bs spewed on the internet, a shop keeping a vehicle (unless there is monies owed) is illegal.

 

Follow up: yes, they would give me a loaner, but-the service rep said there was an updated bulletin saying the recall didn't apply to stickshift cars!

 

I'd be grateful to see documentation on that.

Thanks.

 

I talked to the service guy, who sent me the original and revised TSB. Yes, only automatic trans models. I asked why and he said probably the axles came from 2 different sources (not unheard of in general). The axles are 2 different part numbers depending on manual or auto trans.

 

For some reason the first TSB won't upload. It's 20-120.

 

Good....I have one included, except mine is an m/t.

 

Mine broke when I was in Chicago (thankfully not while driving) in June of 2019. ALMOST threw away the receipt a few weeks ago when I was cleaning out the glovebox. Thank goodness I didn’t bc we just got the recall notice. Cost us $390 including towing.

As a side note if anyone needs a recommendation for a fantastic auto repair shop in the western Chicago suburbs Maas Auto is 5 star!